A Little Mistake
by Phoebegirl319
Summary: Desperate to open the tomb, Damon's plans fall apart when they end up affecting Stefan.  De-aged fic.  Set sometime in season one.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I really should not be taking on another story. Oh well :)**

**-requested by: cold kagome-**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.  
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><p><em>This better be worth it.<em>

Damon Salvatore thought bitterly as he made his way into a scummy looking bar. He was currently here on "business", meeting someone who could hopefully give him more information on how to open the tomb properly.

The vampire looked towards the back of the bar and saw an older man dressed in all black, keeping to himself. Knowing this to be his contact, Damon quickly strode over.

"Well, well. If it isn't the infamous Damon Salvatore come to seek my help." The man said, tone slightly amused.

Damon raised his eyebrows at this and took a seat. "Let's skip past the introductions. Do you have the information I want?" Damon said roughly, cutting to the chase.

The man looked back at him un-amused. "Do not test me, vampire. You don't yet know who you're dealing with, so you best not aggravate me – or getting the information you seek will be the least of your worries, hmm?"

_Wow. Touchy, _Damon thought. Nobody threatened Damon Salvatore, but he figured it was best not to challenge this guy, at least until he got what he wanted.

Damon raised his hands up in a truce. "My apologies. Now, please, tell me what you know?" Damon gave him a charming smile.

The man remained unfazed but continued. "Well, you're dealing with some hardcore magic. Only certain powerful objects may be able to help you open the tomb on your own without other witches unlocking it for you." The man said, reaching into his pocket for something.

Damon narrowed his eyes. "That's perfect. I need something that I can handle on my own. No witch will help me unlock it." The vampire thought back to Bonnie and knew she would rather kill herself than ever help him.

"Ah, here it is." The man rested his hand on the table and opened it, allowing Damon to see. Inside his palm, rested a small black stone with ridged edges. "This stone should allow you to get what you desire since it is based solely on that – desires. Simply hold it in your palm and whatever your deepest desire shall be, will be granted."

Damon eyed the stone as the man talked and looked back at him incredulously. "Are you serious? What kind of fairytale story is _that_? Now I know that vampires are suppose to not exist, but come on. This is borderline bullshit."

The man's eyes hardened with anger and with one look Damon felt his body fill with fire; piercing agony.

"Ahhh, what – what the hell." Damon groaned.

"I told you, " the mysterious man said slowly. "Do not test me, Damon Salvatore. Or it will be your last."

Damon nodded as the pain intensified to the point where he wasn't sure where he was anymore and then it stopped instantly. He took in a rush of air and blew out in relief. "I don't understand though. If this stone really works, why do you want me to have it? Why are you helping me so much?" Damon was surprised. He had thought this guy could maybe lead him the right direction – not give him the freaking solution in one go.

"I, have my reasons for you to be in possession of this stone. Now, just remember – have the stone be in your possession and your desire should be granted." With that, the man simply nodded and left the table, leaving the stone and Damon still shocked at the very bizarre meeting.

_Whatever; as long as this thing works, who cares if the guy is shady?_

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><p>Damon drove quickly, anxious to start working on the stone, which was currently in his pant's pocket. Unfortunately he couldn't go right home and get to work on it – he had a council meeting to go to and he wanted to keep up on everything that the council was up to, and that meant attending all the dull meetings.<p>

Suddenly he felt his phone vibrate and reached down to look and see who was calling. "Ah, if it isn't my little brother." Damon said amused, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Stefan. How have you been brother?" Damon asked, smirking.

"Damon. Where are you? Are you still trying to do something about the tomb?" Stefan's voice sounded tense and worried. As it usually did.

"Brother, brother, relax. Take a deep breath, hm? Everything will work out fine. Don't you worry about a thing little brother," Damon replied back.

Stefan responded back desperate. "Damon! Please don't do anything reckless!"

The older vampire rolled his eyes. "Relax Stefan. I'll be back to the house soon. Have fun at school, mingling with humans." Damon ended the call just as he heard Stefan shouting something in the background.

He really wished his brother would get off his back. All Stefan wanted to do was keep an eye on him 24/7 as though he were a young child. Please! If anyone was the child it was his little brother. He wished Stefan would stop treating him this way and that things would go back to how they were before – when Stefan would follow any word Damon would say and worship every move his big brother made.

Damon sighed. It seemed that those things were long gone. He absently fingered his pocket again as he continued his drive.

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><p>"Damon, wait!" Stefan sighed audibly as he heard the phone cut out. He closed his locker annoyed with his brother and made his way to his next class.<p>

"Hey, what's up?" Elena asked as she saw Stefan sit down in a seat next to her in their history class.

"Oh, Damon's up to his usual schemes regarding the tomb. I have a feeling he's up to something really bad this time." The younger vampire looked off in thought as Elena looked back worriedly.

Noticing her look, Stefan reached across and gripped her hand gently. "Don't worry. Once I get home I'll try and see what he was up to." He smiled reassuringly at her and she smiled back.

As the history class continued on and Alaric lectured, Stefan found it hard to concentrate as he felt an odd pain develop near his stomach. It was weird. It wasn't like a hunger pain, which he at first had thought it was. No, it was different and getting more intense as the class went on.

Thankfully, the bell rang, signaling that the day was over. Stefan was majorly relieved; the pain had only increased ten fold and he found it very hard to hide it from Elena. He didn't want her to worry when it was most likely just a severe hunger pain. He just wanted to get home, drink some animal blood, and collapse on his bed.

Elena however, seemed to notice his slight grimace as they walked to her car. "Stefan? Are you okay?" Her eyes scrunched together in concern.

Stefan straightened himself up and tried to appear normal. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I'm just a little hungry, that's all. It'll pass once I go home and drink some blood." She nodded back slowly but couldn't help but notice the sweat beads on his forehead and how exhausted he appeared.

After Elena had arrived home safely and he had kissed her goodbye, once again reassuring her that he was fine, he quickly sped back home, wrenching open the door to the boarding house.

The pain was horrible. It felt like none other that Stefan could remember and he clutched his stomach painfully. The boy then attempted to speed to the kitchen to drink some blood, but seemed to only make it to the living room to collapse on the nearest coach.

The young vampire groaned in slight agony and wrapped his arms around his middle. He was scared. What was happening to him? In that moment, all he wanted was for Damon to be here, for his big brother to make everything all right –even though things had been rough for them, he didn't care. He just needed Damon. With these last desperate thoughts, the young Salvatore was finally spared and blacked out from all the pain.

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><p>Damon had never been more relieved to be done with a council meeting. All he wanted was to get home and begin his plan.<p>

Soon enough, he was pulling into the driveway and opening the door to the house. He wondered if his little brother was home yet; looking at his watch, school had definitely ended. He supposed it was matter of whether Stefan was going to spend time with Elena afterwards or not.

"Stefan?" Damon called out. Upon hearing no response, he found that he did sense his brother in the house, but it felt a little different, but undoubtedly Stefan. Weird that he didn't reply back though…_Perhaps he's just sulking in his room_, Damon thought amused.

Making his way farther into the house, Damon went into the living room and right to his collection of alcohol. After pouring himself a drink, he turned around and promptly felt the glass slip out of his fingers and crash to the ground.

Lying on the couch facing opposite him appeared to be a little boy swallowed in almost a blanket of much larger clothes. He had a soft mop of light brown hair and appeared to be in a deep sleep; one of his thumb's being softly sucked as he dreamt.

"What. The. Hell." Damon just stared. Why was there a small child in his house? Why was he sleeping in clothes that obviously did not fit him? Where the hell was Stefan? Why did this boy remind him eerily of someone?

Approaching the child, Damon reached out and tugged on his shoulder lightly. Surprisingly, the child opening his eyes slowly and yawned, bringing a fist up to wipe the tired out of his eyes.

As the little boy looked up at him with blurry eyes, Damon was again shocked. Those gentle and intelligent eyes…forest green. And that face…

On closer inspection, Damon realized that the little boy was nothing more than a toddler, maybe around two or three years old. "What's your name?" The older Salvatore asked hesitantly. He was dreading the answer.

The child looked up at him curiously and then answered softly in baby talk. "Stefan."

Damon's undead heart stopped. No. No, this wasn't possible. This was **not **his younger brother! It just wasn't possible!

"Stefan!" Damon began to yell out to his brother, startling the little boy. "This isn't funny Stefan! You better come out right now before I tear your heart out for this!" Damon threatened harshly, hoping to get a reaction out of his brother.

Meanwhile, the little boy on the couch back up as far as he could and brought up his small hands to cover his ears as Damon shouted. He stared back at him scared as tears came to his eyes as the vampire continued to shout out practically death threats.

Receiving no answer, Damon eventually stopped and looked back at the couch. The toddler had pulled the large clothes around him as a blanket, shielding himself from Damon and occasionally peering his head over the material.

Realizing that the boy was obviously afraid of him, Damon held his hands up. "Hey. I'm sorry for frightening you. I won't hurt you, ok." The vampire took a step in the child's direction and was relieved when he didn't hide under the "blankets" more.

The little boy unraveled himself a little more and gave Damon a small smile. "Damy? Is dat you?"

Shocked again, Damon had no choice in that moment but to realize this really was his little brother. It had been many years since he had seen this childish version of Stefan, but the signs were all there. His floppy light brown hair, sensitive eyes and quiet smile. _But still, what the hell was going on!_

"How do you know I'm Damon?" Damon asked his now literally _baby_ brother.

Stefan gave him a funny look. "I don't know. I jus do! But you got big Damy! And mean." Stefan said the last part with a small pout.

Damon gave a huff. "I am not _mean_ little brother," he then stopped short, realizing he was enjoying a banter with a two year old.

"Stefan, how old are you?" Damon asked.

The child lifted his head in pride. "I'm three, Damy. I'm a big boy!" Stefan gave him another big smile and them stuck his thumb in his mouth, undermining his statement.

"Ugh, don't do that Stef." Damon pulled his little brother's small hand out of his mouth and gave him a stern look. He remembered his younger self lecturing Stefan out of his bad thumb-sucking habit.

"But Damy!" Stefan whined.

"Don't call me Damy. It's Damon." The little Salvatore looked hurt at this but nodded. It seemed he was still a little scared of this Damon.

Speaking of, Damon was currently pacing as he thought of what he should do now. Something had obviously happened to his younger brother from the time he had talked to him earlier on the phone. Elena! That was it! He should go and talk with her and see if she had noticed anything.

While Damon had been pacing, Stefan had been watching his big brother with sleepy eyes. When Damon final seemed to have made up his mind and focused his attention on Stefan, he noticed his baby brother's head keep drooping in exhaustion. Probably still tired from waking him from his nap.

"Okay. How about I take you up to your room, and you have a nap while Damon goes out and does some errands?" The older vampire asked.

"I'm not tired. Stefan wants to go with big brother!" Stefan tried to put up a good argument but Damon was not going to give in.

"Sorry, little brother, but its nap time." Damon made a move to grab his little brother, but then stopped when he realized that Stefan had to be naked under his "blanket" of clothing.

Feeling a little out of place at this, he walked to a nearby closet and found a comfy blanket. "Okay, Stefan. I'm just going to wrap this blanket around you, ok?" Stefan nodded at him.

Damon then quickly bundled the little boy up and easily gathered the sleepy toddler into his arms; still shocked he was carrying his actual brother. Stefan sighed content and rested his head on Damon's shoulder, closing his eyes.

The older vampire couldn't help but smile at this and hold on tighter as he carried Stefan up to his room. As he did this though, he found himself worrying about leaving Stefan in the house. Now that he was practically a baby, Stefan was totally defenseless and any vampire could easily come into the house.

Gripping him tightly, Damon made his way down the stairs.

_Well, I guess you're coming with me then after all little brother._

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><p><strong>Please leave a review and let me know what you think :)<strong>_  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Here's the next chapter! I'm really glad you guys seem to like it :) Sorry again for the wait! School seriously sucks.

**Too cool for school – **Thank you! Here's another chapter :)

**MaraJade – **Thank you so much, that means a lot! I'm glad you like it :)

**Rye – **Little Stefan is adorable! Thanks for reviewing :)

**iGG – **Oh my god, I die reading your reviews. You're so sweet and kind to me! Thank you so, so much! I'm so glad you like it! :DD

**jjj14 – **Thank you! And I'll try and get a new chapter up soon :)

**SalvatoreManiac – **So glad you like it! Thank you so much for the sweet review! :D

**Jess – **I couldn't resist putting Stefan having a bad thumb-sucking habit, lol :) Yes, it will be interesting to see how Elena reacts. Thanks for the review :)

**Im not who u think i am – **Here you go! Another chapter :)

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><p>Carrying his little bundle, Damon excited the Boarding House and stood for a moment in thought. Well, he couldn't exactly use the car now because he didn't have any car seat. He decided he would have to just run to Elena's and be extra careful with Stefan in his arms.<p>

Wondering if he should wake his little brother up so he could inform him of what was about to happen, Damon looked down. His brother seemed have already fallen fast asleep on his shoulder in just the short time that he had picked him up.

_Alright, then. Hold on little Stefan._

Gripping his baby brother tight to him, Damon sped at a relatively easy pace to Elena's house and made it there in less than two minutes. Stefan was still sound asleep. Walking right up to her door, Damon prayed that Jenna wouldn't be the person that greeted him. Knowing that Elena had slipped everyone in her family vervain, it would be a little bit harder to make it through the threshold in his current situation.

Luck apparently being on his side, well at least now, Elena swung open the door with a surprised and quickly irritated look.

"Damon. What are you doing here?" Elena sighed. However, her eyes widened when she finally took note of what Damon had in his arms.

"Yeah, maybe this would be better discussed inside, if you don't mind." Damon said, giving her a pointed look.

Elena nodded and closed the door as Damon sped on past. "Is anyone else home?"

Elena shook her head. "No. Jeremy's doing some project at school and Jenna won't be home until dinner. It's just me."

Damon nodded, relieved. "Good."

"Damon, are you going to tell me now what the hell is going on? Why are you carrying a child?" Elena asked. Never would she have pictured Damon Salvatore carrying a small child in his arms. One who was sleeping quite adorably if she might add.

"It's a long story. But cliff-notes version, you are looking at the child version of Stefan." Damon said, getting to the point quickly.

Elena's eyes widened dramatically and she just stared at the little boy. "No..no, that's not possible! What are you talking about? That cannot be Stefan!"

Damon sighed. "Elena, look, I know it's really hard to believe. But just look at him. Trust me, I know it's my brother. He even told me his name was Stefan and he knew I was Damon."

Listening to the earnestness in his voice, Elena nodded. She tried to take a peek, but the little boy's face was covered in Damon's shirt at the moment as he slept. Still, Damon's serious tone put her doubts to rest. "Alright, tell me how this happened."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Well I suppose this whole trip was useless. I came here to see if _you_ knew anything. All I know is, when I came home I found him like this on the couch." Damon said, disappointed he was no closer in finding out what was going on.

The teenage girl thought for a moment. "Wait. When we were leaving school and he was dropping me off, he seemed kind of off. Like, he was hiding something from me?" Elena thought back to Stefan's somewhat strange behavior before she had last seen him.

Damon furrowed his brows and shifted his brother. Stefan let out a small huff and moved a little - possibly a sign he was waking up. "Maybe that's when he started feeling the affects of whatever caused this to happen to him.." Elena nodded back.

"Maybe we should ask Bonnie? She's a witch and even though she just recently found out, she might know where to look." Elena suggested.

"Hmmmmm, she's a beginner. I need someone who's going to give me results. But, you can ask her if you want." Damon waved his hand as though he didn't really care nor give more thought to this "plan". Elena just rolled her eyes back at him in annoyance.

They both stood in silence for a while thinking until Damon felt some shifting in his arms. It seemed as though Stefan was waking up as a soft yawn was heard. Elena looked on curiously and glanced back at Damon, both of them sharing a look.

Little Stefan brought his head up slowly from its resting spot on Damon's chest and brought a small hand up to wipe his eyes. He looked up at Damon with blurred eyes, slightly confused at what was going on.

"Hey, Stefan." Damon said softly. He honestly wasn't sure how to really act around his baby brother. This was all so…weird.

Stefan smiled a little at him. "Hi Damy. Where are we?" Elena gasped a little in the background as she heard Stefan talking, hearing his baby voice for the first time. Stefan hearing this turned around in his brother's arms and noticed Elena. He gripped Damon tighter and rested his head back onto Damon, trying to hide himself in the shirt.

"Stefan, it's okay. This is Elena, " Damon glanced back at her, "She's .. my friend. You don't have to be scared, okay?" Stefan nodded hesitantly and then smiled a little at Elena.

"Hi." The little boy said shyly.

Elena's breath caught in her throat during the whole exchange. Now that Stefan was awake she really couldn't deny that it was him. From his soft light brown hair to his green eyes, Elena couldn't help but gush at how adorable Stefan was.

Elena gave him a warm and reassuring smile in return. "Hi sweetie. How old are you?" She suddenly found herself asking.

Stefan though seemed to be happy at having this question asked. "I'm three!" He said proudly.

"Well you're just a big boy aren't you?" Elena said laughing.

Stefan inclined his head in agreement. "I am! I am! I told Damy dat too!" Elena smirked a little at Damon for Stefan's nickname for him. He just looked back slightly annoyed.

Stefan then reach out with his hands and grabbed towards Elena. "I think he wants you to hold him." Damon guessed, shifting Stefan, as he kept moving.

Elena looked back surprised. "Really? Okay." She was a little unsure how she was supposed to feel about holding the three-year-old version of her boyfriend, but she couldn't deny that little face. She walked over to where Damon was standing and gently lifted the toddler and placed him on her hip, Stefan snuggling into her.

"Damon why is he just wrapped in a blanket?" Elena asked, running a hang through Stefan's soft locks and smiling at him.

"Because I don't have any child-size clothing in my house?" Damon replied back sarcastically. "I came here right after I found him like this."

Elena nodded, ignoring Damon's tone. "Alright. Well we should get some things for him. We don't know how long this could last and we can't just keep wrapping him in blankets." While the "grown-ups" talked, Stefan was gently gnawing on part of said blanket.

This did not slip past Damon. "Stefan, don't do that." The little boy immediately stopped and looked up at Damon innocently.

"Sowy, Damy." Stefan apologized. Elena felt her heart explode again with Stefan's cuteness and settled for hugging Stefan closer to her.

The elder Salvatore felt the need to correct his little brother on his name, but decided to let it slide for now. "Alright. I think I'm going to go and visit Bonnie. Can you watch him until I'm back?" Damon asked, inching towards the door.

"Whoa, wait! I've got a better idea. You stay here with Stefan and I'll call Bonnie to come over and talk. While you do that, I'll go to the store and get some things for him." Elena said, walking over to the vampire and holding out Stefan for him.

"Ummm, how about no." Damon gave her a hard unwavering look. Hearing about being with his brother, Stefan reached out with his hands like before and grabbed towards Damon.

"I want Damy." Stefan continued to struggle in Elena's arms to get to his brother.

"See." Elena gave the elder Salvatore a pointed look. "He wants to be with you. Come on."

Damon sighed a little. "Fine. Hand over little brother." Elena smiled and handed over the still restless Stefan.

Finally in Damon's arms again, Stefan was ecstatic and proceeded to wrap his little feet around Damon's middle as much as he could. "I give you a big hug Damy."

Elena smiled again while Damon looked slightly uncomfortable. "Okay, well I'll call Bonnie while I'm out. I'll convince her to come all right. You'll be fine." Elena patted Damon's shoulder and then grabbed her keys and was off.

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><p>Stefan waved goodbye to the nice lady and turned back to Damon. "Whatta we do now Damy?"<p>

"Hmmm," Damon thought for a moment and brought the two of them into the kitchen. "I'm not sure little brother. And can you please call me Damon?"

Stefan thought for a moment. "Otay. You're jus like my Damy, big Damy. He doesn't like it when I call him Damy either." Stefan giggled a little. "How'd you get so big though, Damon? You're like papa now!" Stefan said with wide eyes.

The vampire flinched a little when Stefan brought up their father. He knew that sooner or later Stefan would wonder where their father was, and what time period they even were in, in general. It seemed the toddler hadn't really noticed much of his surroundings yet.

"I didn't exactly get big Stefan. It's a long story, how about I save that for later?" Damon said.

Surprisingly, Stefan didn't fight back at all. "Otay Damon, you save story for later." Hearing this, Damon couldn't help but feel his heartstrings tug. It had been so long since he had this little Stefan in his arms again. Obeying everything he said and listening to his every word. It wouldn't be a complete turn on his character if he just had a little fun with him, would it?

Damon smiled down at his baby brother and thought for a moment. "Hmmmm, are you hungry?" He reached down and started tickling Stefan's little stomach. "Is baby brother's tummy hungry?"

Stefan squealed with laughter. "Damy, Damy stop! I'm hungry, I'm hungry Damy!" The nickname came out as Stefan was unable to fight against the tickling. Damon found that he was starting not to mind it.

"Ok, let's go find something for Stefan." Damon said, stopping his hands. He decided he would just make Stefan a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. There was an overabundance of supply of that in Elena's fridge due to her and Jeremy probably getting it for lunch. And he supposed that Stefan would probably enjoy it too.

He set Stefan down on the counter as he made it, giving him a stern warning to keep still. As he was doing this, Stefan looked around the house more with confused and wide eyes – finally noticing that something was off.

"Ok, all done." Damon said, placing the food on the table with some apple cuts and a glass of milk. He then grabbed Stefan again and moved him over to the kitchen table, but realized Stefan wouldn't be able to reach the table sitting on the chairs. Settling himself down on the chair and his brother in his lap, Damon watched as Stefan took small bites of his sandwich and ate quietly.

"Do you like it?" Damon asked after a couple minutes of silence. Stefan looked back up at him and nodded slowly and picked up one of the apple slices, nibbling on it. After about ten minutes, Stefan had stopped eating and just lay in Damon's lap.

Damon took note of the fact that Stefan only ate half of his small sandwich and one apple slice. "Stefan? Are you full? Are you sure you don't want to eat more?"

Instead of looking up at him, Damon just felt the little Salvatore's head shake on his chest as he continued to lie there. Frowning, the vampire suddenly picked Stefan up and spun him around a little. The toddler gave a small gasp of surprise, his light brown locks flying everywhere.

Damon then "landed" them down on the couch, hoping his plan to cheer a seemingly sad Stefan up had worked. His little brother though remained indifferent to everything.

"Stef. What's wrong little brother?" Damon brought his hand up to ruffle some of the toddler's soft downy hair.

Stefan spoke quietly. "Damy. Where are we?"

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><p><strong>There it is! :D I hope to update "Spell Mishap" soon.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **So sorry for the late update! And I've also been really scatter-brained lately, so if I forgot to reply back to a review or something, I'm sorry for that – please let me know too ;)

Also, I've never written for a toddler before, so I don't know exactly the correct form of speech for them but I just gave it my best shot ;) So, forgive me if it's a little out there.

**Rye **- Haha, yay, I'm glad you liked her reaction. Here's the next chapter :)

**iGG **- Awww, wow thank you so much! I really appreciate your sweet words; they motivate me to write more :) Omg, wow that is one of the nicest things to say :D Thank you so much again for the wonderful review and here's the next update :)

**jjj14 **- Lol, wow thank you :) You're welcome, thank you again :D

**jess **- Thank you! I don't know yet how naughty exactly I'm going to make him, because I kind of see Stefan as a sweet kid, but you'll just have to wait and see ;P Thanks again for the review :)

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><p>Damon frowned at his baby brother's serious face. "What do you mean, Stefan?"<p>

The little Salvatore turned down his eyes and brought his small fingers to play with something to distract him from answering. Apparently he was fond of Damon's expensive black sweater, for he started to play with a lose thread.

"I'm scwared. Everything looks scwary here, Damy. Where's papa and our house!" The toddler started to get very upset; his green eyes filling with wetness and began sobbing.

"Shhh, shh Stefan. It's all right, it's all right, ok. I'm here, everything's going to be fine." Damon grabbed a hold of his little brother and enveloped him in his arms; rocking him for the first time in many, many years.

"Something did happen, Stefan. I want to tell you what's going on, but.. I don't want to scare you. For now, just relax, ok little brother? I won't let anything happen to you. You know your big brother." Damon hoped his words would ease Stefan. He was also banking on the fact that he wouldn't have to explain this mess to him; granted he could fix everything relatively soon.

As the small boy continued to be rocked, he looked at Damon again; smiling adoringly up at him – all troubles and worries seemingly vanished from his older brother's words. "I know dat, Damy. You're the bestest brother in da world. Even when you're big." Stefan said, a gleam to his eyes as he snuggled more into Damon – if that was even possible. Damon swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.

The two brothers sat like that for a while. Stefan content and happy that he was being rocked and Damon happy as well. Having the little version of his younger brother here made him feel surprisingly at ease.

Not long after, a few persistent knocks were heard at the door with who Damon assumed to be Bonnie. Sure enough, Bonnie's voice was soon heard from the other side of the door.

"Damon, it's me Bonnie." The young girl called out.

"Alright, alright. Hold on to your broomstick, I'm coming," The vampire snickered to himself, especially after hearing Bonnie's huff of annoyance.

"Damy, who's dat?" Stefan looked slightly scared again, but Damon glanced down at him reassuringly, brushing his soft hair back comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Stef. It's a .. well, not exactly a friend of _mine_, but a friend of Elena's. You remember Elena, right?" Damon asked.

Stefan nodded. "Elena's nice and pretty for a girl." Damon smirked again. Stefan must be in that phase where he believed that girls were yucky and had germs.

"Yeah, I bet you think she's pretty." Damon said, laughing at Stefan's somewhat confused expression. He then got up from the couch and attempted to put the boy down, but Stefan started pouting.

"No! Damy I want you to keep hugging me, pwease!" Stefan gave him his infamous puppy eyes, certain that any version of Damon would give in.

_Little brother is right._ Damon thought back to his childhood with his younger brother; he really couldn't say no when Stefan shot him those. "Alright, you affectionate little thing. But you do know, baby brother, that I'm more holding you than _hugging _you right now." The vampire corrected.

Stefan scrunched his face up at Damon's response. "Na-uh."

"Uh-huh" Damon mimicked back as he walked to the front of the house to let Bonnie in; Stefan hiding himself from her in his arms.

"Well, it's about time you got here." Was the nice, in Damon's opinion, greeting he gave to the young witch.

Bonnie just continued to stare at him. "Do you want my help or not?" She was obviously not in the mood for Damon's usual antics.

Damon put his arms up in slight defense. "Alright. I'll try and restrain myself; but honestly no promises."

Bonnie simply moved on forward to the living room while Damon shut and locked the door again.

"So," Damon began as he joined Bonnie, "I trust that Elena let you in on our, ah- situation?" he glanced down at the bundle in his arms, shooting the little boy a goofy face. Stefan, not really understanding what was going on giggled at his older brother's silliness.

Bonnie, before too caught up in her annoyance in dealing with Damon, finally took in Stefan for the first time. She couldn't hold back her gasp when she saw him. After everything she had learned this year – what with the vampires, witches and god knew what else, this must have been the weirdest.

"So..," Bonnie gestured towards Stefan. "That's really him?" Like when Elena had first met him, Stefan was hiding his face for the most part in Damon's shirt, but from what Bonnie could see the boy did look similar.

"Yep. This is Stef." Damon said, the toddler still not bulging on looking at Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded, smiling a little. "Wow, alright, well I was already in my car when Elena called me, so I don't have any of my books. But I do know a spell that could help me identify what happened, and then I can go from there."

"Ok, sounds plausible, let's do it." Damon said, feeling surprisingly more hopeful from Bonnie's easy tone.

"Ah, I kinda need to use Stefan to do this." Bonnie said.

Damon raised his brows and held on to Stefan a little tighter. "How exactly?"

Bonnie waved her hands dismissively. "It's nothing much really, could you just put him on the couch over there? I need to "sense" him in way, nothing terrible. I promise." The girl replied reassuringly. She was slightly surprised really – who knew Damon to be so gentle with kids. Although she knew it to be Stefan, that in itself was another surprise.

The eldest Salvatore shook his head in agreement and settled Stefan on the couch opposite a table that Bonnie was on. Stefan looked on nervously and grabbed out for his brother to hold him again. When Damon did not give in, possibly trying not to show his affections in front of Bonnie, the toddler became sad again.

Noticing this, Bonnie quickly tried to make the little boy feel better. "Hi, Stefan. I'm Bonnie, a friend of Elena's." Stefan smiled a little at the mention of Elena, which in turn made Bonnie smirk a little at the irony of the whole situation.

"Do you like magic, Stefan?" The girl smiled warmly at his huge gasp of surprise.

"Magic! You have magic!" Came the excited shout of surprise from the boy.

"Yes, and would you mind if I did a small spell, _just _with you?" Bonnie asked. Stefan shook his head excitedly.

"Oh, pwease, yes pwease! Damy, she's gonna do magic wit me!" Stefan beamed up at Damon, who gave a small smile back.

"Alright, Stefan I just need you to sit there patiently while I do my magic, ok?" The little toddler nodded back at Bonnie and settled his body to be still. Damon looked on at the two a little off to the side with his arms crossed – keeping an eye.

Bonnie took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, starting to mutter the spell under her breath. As she got more into it her hands moved out slightly in front of Stefan, and her chants deeper. After about a minute, Bonnie put down her hands and opened her eyes. Stefan still sat on the couch, possibly waiting for some explosion to go off.

"Well? What did you get?" Damon asked.

"Ah, I'm not sure but it feels like some other source was involved." Bonnie said in thought.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Well, of course there's some other source involved. What – did you think _I _did it or something?" He replied sarcastically.

Bonnie got up from the table and grabbed her things; obviously ready to leave while Stefan looked on at the two in confusion. _Did he do something to upset the nice witch lady?_

"I meant some other type of magical object seems to be the source, instead of just another witch; _jackass._ Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take a look at the books tonight and maybe I'll get back to you." Bonnie pushed past Damon and was out the door.

The elder vampire stood at the doorway with a look of indifference and slight amusement in his eyes; shrugging his shoulders at Bonnie's departure.

"Well, Stef, I guess the only thing to do now is wait for Elena to come back, huh?"

* * *

><p>Around 10 minutes later, Elena came barging through the door, saying she had a bunch of other things in her car for Damon.<p>

Meanwhile, as Elena was talking a mile a minute – also yelling at Damon for setting Bonnie off while said vampire had turned the TV on. Stefan was lying next to him with big eyes, not really understanding what the TV was, but very fascinated by it.

"So, anyways I got you some clothes for him and stuff, just for now." Elena walked back into the living room.

"Great, that's great." Damon replied casually, eyes still glued to the TV screen. Elena huffed, and promptly grabbed the remote and turned it off.

"Wa- hey! We were watching that!" The vampire said angrily

"No, _you _were watching that. Sorry, but I really have to get you guys out of here before Jenna comes home. I'll drive you both back with the car so you can grab all the stuff, ok? Oh! And I got just a little bit of food because I figured you probably had an empty kitchen back at the Boarding House." Damon widened his eyes at this. Elena was right. There hadn't been any human food in that place since Zach lived there.

"Good thinking. Can't have this little guy munching on.." Elena gave him a look, "_unsuitable_ things, now can we?" Damon smirked back at her.

"Ok, Stefan, say goodbye to Elena now, we're going home." Damon got up from the couch and gathered the toddler back into his arms.

Elena walked over to Stefan, wanting to say goodbye. She touched his long and messy baby hair and smiled lovingly at him. "Bye, Stefan. Be safe ok, sweetie."

Stefan reached out for Elena again, causing Damon to hand him into Elena's arms. The three year old then rested his head against Elena's shoulder and held onto her tightly. "Byee Elena."

She sniffled slightly, giving him one last squeeze, and then gave him back to Damon as they made their way to her car.

* * *

><p>After waving goodbye to Elena – essentially just Stefan, Damon brought the child up to his room and told him to stay put on the bed while he sped back and grabbed all the supplies from the car.<p>

Quickly putting the food on the table, Damon rushed down to the basement to take a long drink of blood – drained from not having any the whole day._ Ah, that feels good._ He downed another bag.

As he was thinking back on the day, he remembered how just this morning he had hoped to free Katherine by now. In fact, he could still feel the stone in his pocket now.

_Leave it to Stefan to mess things up_, a darker part of Damon's mind said; though he knew that was unfair to his brother.

Sighing, he discarding the blood bags and sped back up to grab the bags of clothing Elena had gotten for him. "Aww, don't we just have the cutest set of clothes here." The eldest Salvatore laughed to himself, imaging what the older Stefan would say and made his way back to said brother's room.

Stefan had been very obedient and was waiting patiently just as his older brother had instructed him. He was resting against one of the soft pillows, gazing around the room in wonder as he pulled the blanket he still had wrapped around himself tight.

"Look what I got Stef; a bunch of clothes for you! How about we go and change into those now? I'm thinking pajamas since I'll probably have to put you to bed soon anyway." Damon thought out loud, looking around the room for a clock.

Stefan sat up a little at his brother's words. "But, Damy I like dis blankie. Can I pwease keep it?" Stefan pouted, holder his blanket tighter around his body.

Damon walked over and ruffled his hair. "You can keep the blanket Stefan, just let me put some clothes on you." As he said this, he attempted to put on some plain, dark blue footie pajamas, but stopped as he felt the coolness of Stefan's skin.

As a matter of fact, when Damon took a better look at the boy, he noticed that Stefan was indeed shivering a little; continuing to tug his blanket close.

"Stefan Salvatore!" Damon admonished. "Have you been freezing this entire time and not told me?" Immediately he was furious with his little brother. Of course he should have realized that Stefan would have kept important personal information to himself; he was always claiming that he didn't need to be fussed or bothered over. But now Stefan was just a mere three year old who could be sick or hurt in an instant.

"Damy, I didn't wan to bother you! I'm ok, I promise." Stefan attempted to hide his slight shivering as a way to prove his false claim.

The vampire didn't bother with responding and merely lifted the toddler up and carried him to the bathroom; quickly pulling the blanket off and dressing Stefan quickly with some underwear and putting him into his warm pajamas. Stefan squirmed a little as he did this, but for the most part complied.

Wanting to make sure Stefan would now be warm, he wrapped the soft blanket around him again, Stefan looking completely smothered from all he was covered in afterwards. Swiftly then, Damon gathered his little brother into his arms and made way for downstairs.

"Feeling a little better now, baby brother?" Damon asked as he walked carefully down the steps. To make sure for himself, he rolled up the sleeve of Stefan's pajamas and was glad to find it much warmer in addition to Stefan ceasing his shivering.

He felt the bundle in his arms shift with Stefan's nod, and his little feet wrap around his middle again. "Yes," came Stefan's muffled reply, the light brown hair brushing against Damon's chin, slightly tickling it.

"Let's get some warm food in you then." The two headed their way into the kitchen and Damon began to prepare dinner for the both of them – not wanting to make Stefan suspicious if he asked why he wasn't eating. Plus, he figured Stefan would then be even more motivated to eat whatever he prepared – with him wanting to do whatever his older brother did.

Damon smiled a little at this, and found that despite Stefan being a handful, things weren't _too_ bad.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Hope it wasn't too awful ;)


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